In systems of the type mentioned above, which are typified by high operating speeds, a considerable number of cigarettes will be collected cyclically at a relatively high frequency. Consequently, successive collection cycles tend to create somewhat sizeable voids in the mass of cigarettes occupying the hopper, especially in the part of the hopper disposed nearest to the outlets. These voids generate imbalances during a given collection cycle that are unable to self-correct, with the result that the cigarettes are caused to assume an incorrect positional arrangement likely to jeopardize the outcome of the next cycle. In particular, a few cigarettes can become lodged transversely to the remainder and thus occasion a jam internally of the hopper.
The problem in question can be remedied, according to one prior art solution, by using a hopper of which the part directly above the outlets is oversized volumetrically. This ensures that the imbalances mentioned above will have little effect on the mass of cigarettes located above the outlets since the overall volume of the voids created in the mass is negligible in relation to the volume of the mass of cigarettes lying above the outlets.
The solution in question betrays a drawback nonetheless, deriving from the fact that the cigarettes immediately adjacent to the outlets of the hopper are compressed by the considerable mass of cigarettes lying above the outlets. Consequently, the cigarettes risk being crushed and damaged, shedding a part of the tobacco filler from the non-tipped ends or losing their correct cylindrical shape.
The object of the present invention is to provide a unit for feeding cigarettes to a packer machine in which the relative hopper is unaffected by the above noted drawbacks.